Ghost Woman
by JudasFm
Summary: Two parter, set pre-Death Note. Light plays a practical joke on Sayu that goes badly wrong. Soichiro is not amused. Some Soichiro-Sayu fluff! Please R&R!
1. Nightmares

**I've had the first part of this lined up for a while now, but this is the first chance I've had to polish it up and publish it ;) It's just a short two-parter, but I hope you like it :)**

**Disclaimer:** If I owned _Death Note_, I'd be a whole lot richer than I am right now and would probably be writing this from the Caribbean. I wish I did own the rights, or at least had some kind of timeshare deal, but no such luck.

* * *

"Yagami-_san_, good evening."

Soichiro shrugged his coat off and hung it up. "Good evening, Emi-_chan_. How much do I owe you for tonight?"

"Five thousand yen, please."

Soichiro dug around in his wallet and pulled out a rather crumpled five thousand yen note. Emi charged one thousand yen per hour, which was a lot more than most babysitters and a few hundred above minimum wage, but on the other hand she cooked dinner, helped Light and Sayu with their homework, got them bathed, teeth brushed and into bed on time, cleaned up after everyone and – unlike her predecessor – enforced the house rules to the letter. Better yet, she lived down the other end of the street, so was close enough to walk home (Soichiro tended to stand outside and watch to make sure she got safely back, but at least he didn't have to drive her). As far as he was concerned, it was well worth the money, and one thousand yen per hour was nice and easy to calculate.

"Any problems?" he asked as he handed her the money.

"Thank you. No, Yagami-_san_, there were no real problems, except Light-_kun_ tried to persuade me that he was allowed to stay up until midnight on a Thursday and that you'd said he could watch any movie from your collection that he liked."

Soichiro raised his eyebrows. Light's attempts to charm, wheedle and sometimes blatantly manipulate his way into a later bedtime were nothing new – he tried the same tricks on his parents from time to time – but the movie scheme was a new one on him.

"What did you say?" he asked.

Emi's face was a picture of innocence as she replied, "I pointed out that if you _had_ said that, then it would be much nicer for Light-_kun_ to watch the movie with you than by himself and so I wouldn't let him spoil the surprise."

Soichiro chuckled. That was the other good thing about Emi; she could play Light at his own game. Her three predecessors had made the mistake of thinking Light was an average kid, and his son had run rings around them all.

"Did you get him to bed on time?"

"Yes; he went at nine. Oh, and I ironed Light-_kun_ and Sayu-_chan_'s uniforms for school tomorrow and cooked dinner – there's some in the fridge if you're hungry – and..." Emi hesitated.

"Go on," Soichiro instructed her.

"Yagami-_san, _I think Sayu-_chan_'s worried about something. She was very quiet all evening and went up to bed at five past six."

Soichiro frowned. _Quiet _was not a word he normally associated with his young daughter, and as for _early bedtime, _forget it. Sayu was very proud of her eight pm bedtime, having only recently been promoted from seven thirty, and she never went up a second before she had to.

"Did she eat anything?"

"No. I couldn't get her to come downstairs. I offered to bring some food up for her if she was feeling ill, but she said she wasn't hungry and to leave her alone. It's probably nothing, Yagami-_san_, but I thought I should mention it."

"Alright. Thank you." Emi was right, it probably _was_ nothing – Soichiro thought that Sayu was just missing her mother – but he made a mental note to check on his daughter before going to bed. "Are you coming tomorrow?"

"Yes, if you're happy with that."

Not really. Soichiro couldn't shake the nagging feeling that with Sachiko away, he ought to look after his kids himself, but he couldn't get the time off work just then.

"That'll be fine. Thank you."

He escorted Emi outside and stood there, watching to make sure she made it back to her house, then he went back inside his own and shut and locked the door.

A quick rummage in the fridge turned up some rice balls, and having skipped lunch that day, Soichiro was hungry enough to eat them cold. Emi wasn't a bad cook for a fifteen year old. Not as good as Sachiko, of course – nobody cooked as well as Sachiko, in Soichiro's admittedly rather biased opinion – but a lot better than Soichiro himself.

As he headed upstairs, intending to lie in bed with a chapter or two of his book, he noticed Sayu's light was still on. Thinking his daughter was enjoying some sneaky late-night reading (a habit Soichiro had also indulged in as a child but couldn't in good conscience condone as a parent) he opened the door very quietly. Often when Sayu was reading after bedtime she fell asleep with the light still on, and if that was the case this time then Soichiro didn't want to wake her.

The door opened about three inches, and stopped. Frowning, Soichiro pushed a little harder.

At that point, Sayu screamed. Not the girlish squeak that Soichiro got whenever he startled her out of a book, but a full-throated shriek of pure terror.

It took less than two seconds for Soichiro to hurl himself against the door and crash it open, but in the rush of paternal fear, that was far too long. His mind was already racing, picturing anything from a burglar to a kidnapper to some kind of revenge killing for Soichiro arresting someone's big brother or third cousin or something.

There was a series of thuds from the other side of the door and Soichiro forced his way in, almost tripping over the books that had been piled up as a barricade.

"_DAD_!" Sayu hurtled forward and threw herself into Soichiro's arms. Burying her face in his shirt, she burst into hysterical sobs.

"Sayu?" Soichiro stared down at his daughter, baffled and more than a little shocked. Sayu had cried before, of course, but never like this. "What on earth's the matter?"

Looking around, he saw that not only had Sayu set up a rudimentary barricade in front of her bedroom door and several tripwires within the room itself, but she'd also closed the curtains and taped them to the wall. When Soichiro surreptitiously peeled one corner back, he found that Sayu had covered the windows in newspaper.

_What the hell_?

"Sayu?" Reaching down, Soichiro picked up his daughter. This did very little to improve matters, as it meant Sayu transferred her death grip to her father's neck and half strangled him.

"Come on." He carried Sayu out of her room and into his own, hoping that a change of scene would help. Settling down on his bed, he arranged Sayu on his lap and managed to convince her to shift her grip to his shirt before she cut off his air supply completely.

"Sayu, what's wrong?"

Sayu just shook her head and continued to sob, clinging to him tightly. All Soichiro could do was sit and hold her, murmuring soothing nothings, and wait for her to cry herself out.

It took twenty minutes, and Soichiro was certain Sayu only wound down after that because she was too exhausted to continue.

"Sayu?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to."

"Didn't want to what?"

Sayu didn't answer.

"I won't be angry with you, Sayu. Tell me what's the matter."

His daughter suddenly looked up, eyes full of alarm. "Is the door locked? You have to lock the door! You have to lock it right now! Lock it and cover the windows!"

"Alright, give me a moment." Soichiro got to his feet and crossed over to the windows, pulling the curtains shut, then went and locked the door. "There. See?" Soichiro rattled the handle to demonstrate.

"What about the windows?"

"I've drawn the curtains."

"B-but you gotta cover the _windows_!"

"The windows _are_ covered, Sayu." Soichiro allowed a touch of firmness into his voice. He'd do everything in his power as a father to reassure his daughter, but he was damned if he'd spend ages taping newspapers over his bedroom windows. Sitting down on the bed and hoisting Sayu back into his lap, he pointed. "Look. They're covered by the curtains. You can't see out of them, and that means nothing can see in."

Sayu whimpered into his chest. "Do you have your gun?"

"No. You know I have to leave my gun at work; we're not allowed to bring them home. The door is locked, Sayu, and the windows are covered. Nobody is going to get in here to hurt you."

"But-but what about the TV? What're you gonna do about the TV?"

Soichiro hesitated, unsure. "What would you like me to do about it?"

"Turn it round! You have to turn it round and push it against the wall!"

_Oh, this should be good_, Soichiro thought wearily. Aloud he said, "Alright. Wait here."

He got to his feet, which wasn't easy, as Sayu seemed determined to cling to him with everything she had and in the end Soichiro just picked her up and held her with one arm.

Unplugging the TV, he turned it around to face the wall. "How's that?"

"Cover it up! You have to cover it up!"

"Alright, wait a minute." Soichiro glanced around, then placed Sayu back down on the bed, picked up two of the pillows and stripped the cases off. Some instinct told him he wasn't going to get any sense out of Sayu until she'd calmed down, and she wasn't going to calm down until Soichiro's room had been secured according to her specifications. Luckily, the TV was a small one and he was able to fit the pillowcases over it without too much trouble. "There. Feel better?"

"Yes, but you have to put something across the bathroom door too! Otherwise she'll get in that way!"

_She?_ Soichiro wondered.

"What kind of something?" he asked.

"Something...something like that!" Sayu pointed to Sachiko's dressing table. "'Cause that's really heavy so if you put that across the bathroom door she won't be able to open it."

"Alright." Soichiro moved the dressing table across in front of the door, hoping that Sayu wouldn't remember that that particular door actually opened inwards. "There. The bedroom door's locked, the curtains are drawn so no one can see in, I've barricaded the bathroom door and I've put two pillowcases over the TV and turned it to face the wall." Quite what the reasoning was behind _that_ one, Soichiro was afraid to find out. "I promise nobody's going to come in and get you."

He sat down on the bed next to her. This time Sayu didn't just hug him, she clambered back into his lap and curled up into a tight little ball, clinging to him and hiding her face in her father's chest.

"Sayu?" Soichiro spoke very gently. "Are you ready to talk to me now?"

His daughter made a small noise that he was unable to interpret.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

Sayu looked up at him, her entire face swollen from crying.

"I'm going to die tonight."

Soichiro stared at her. "_What_? Who told you that?"

No answer.

"Is this something Emi-_chan_ said to you?" Even as he asked the question, Soichiro knew the answer was _no_. Emi had babysat for the Yagami family for the past eighteen months and there had never been any problems with her. Besides, she was well aware of how impressionable Sayu was and how easily she got nightmares.

Sayu shook her head. "No. Emi-_san_ doesn't know. I didn't want to tell anyone. I wasn't going to tell you 'cause I thought you might worry."

"That was wrong, Sayu." Soichiro kept his voice as calm as he could. "If something upset you as much as this, you should have come to me immediately."

Sayu sniffled a little and didn't answer.

"When's Mama coming home?" she asked.

"Monday. Remember? I told you last night." _And the night before_, Soichiro added to himself, _and the night before that_. Sachiko had never left her children before, and while Light had taken it in his stride, Sayu was having far more trouble adjusting.

"I forgot." Sayu curled a little tighter, squeezing her father's hand so tightly that Soichiro's fingers began to tingle. "Why did she go away? Doesn't she like us anymore?"

"Of course she still likes us. She just had to go away because your grandfather's very ill, and your mother wanted to look after him for a little while." This was a slightly rosy version of the truth; that Sachiko's father was dying of cancer and Sachiko had gone to be with him at the end. "I promise she'll be back after the weekend, Sayu. Why do you think you're going to die tonight?"

No answer.

"If you tell me, perhaps I can think of a way to stop it happening."

"N-no. There _is_ a way but it's bad."

"Is it? Why don't you tell me about it?"

Sayu swallowed. "I...I gotta make a copy of the video and show it to someone else before it's too late. If I don't, I'm gonna die."

Soichiro didn't follow any of this – what was it, some kind of visual chain letter? – but it seemed vitally important to Sayu.

"Do you still have this video?" he asked.

Sayu nodded, face mashed against her father's shirt. "Yes. It's under my bed. Momo's guarding it."

"Is he? Alright." Soichiro had bought a VCR with copying facility for those times when more than one detective needed to see the tape and he had to bring his work home with him. "Why don't we get it and take it downstairs? Then you can make a copy and show it to me."

"_No_! Then the ghost woman will come out the TV and kill _you_!"

Well, _that_ didn't work, although it did explain a lot, including Sayu's insistence on having the television hidden. Soichiro tried another tactic.

"Sayu? Who told you about this ghost woman?"

Sayu shook her head, lips pressed tightly together.

"I can't say. If I do, she'll hear me and she'll come out of the TV early!"

"She'd have a job," Soichiro couldn't resist saying. "Those pillowcases I put over it are pretty thick. Not to mention she'd only get about five centimeters before hitting her nose on the wall."

"But she could push the TV away from the wall and get out that way!"

"Alright. Alright." Seeing Sayu was working herself into another panic, Soichiro changed tack again. "We'll forget that then. Can you tell me who told you not to tell me?"

Sayu shook her head again. "No. Light said I shouldn't tell _anybody_."

_Oh, did he? _"I see. But you don't have a TV in your room, Sayu, so how was the ghost woman going to get in there?"

Sayu rolled her eyes, her expression one of complete frustration with the stupidity of adults.

"Well, she'd come out of the one in the lounge or the one in here and _walk_ to my room!"

"I see," Soichiro said again. Well, at least his daughter wasn't lacking in common sense...

"That's why I put the newspaper over the windows, 'cause I thought she'd come in through there when I shut the door. And Momo's under the bed so she can't come out from there."

"Mm. Good thinking." Soichiro didn't see any reason to point out that newspapers over the window and a cuddly duck-billed platypus under the bed wouldn't be much of a deterrent to a normal assailant, never mind a supernatural one. Sayu was frightened enough already. "So let me make sure I understand this. If you watch a tape and don't copy it and show it to someone else before a certain date passes, a ghost woman comes out of the TV and kills you. Is that right?"

Sayu nodded and snuggled into the comfort of her father's ribs again.

"Yes."

"And remind me again, Sayu, how do you know this?"

"I can't say."

"Really?" Soichiro kept his voice very calm.

"Yes. Light said I'm not allowed to tell you that I sneaked downstairs and watched that film with him."

It took every ounce of self-control Soichiro possessed not to smile – Sayu looked so very serious! – but somehow he managed it.

"Oh, is that right?"

"Yes, 'cause he said he'd get in trouble and you'd be really really mad at him."

_He was right about that_, Soichiro thought but didn't say.

"Sayu, I want you to listen to me very carefully, alright? What you saw wasn't real. It was just a film."

"Bu-but I saw the tape Light showed me and then the phone rang and there was this scratchy whiny buzzy sound just like in the film! And Light was with me, so how could he have made the phone ring at just that time?"

"I don't know," Soichiro answered honestly, while thinking that this was something he would have to ask his son about and _soon. _

Like sometime in the next five minutes.

"But I do know it's just pretend," he went on. "And I'd never lie to you, Sayu, you know that." This wasn't quite true, but Soichiro refused to believe that praising Sayu's artistic talent based on the blobby pictures she brought home from school could be considered a lie.

"N-no, but..."

"But?" Soichiro prompted.

Sayu swallowed. "People make mistakes. Like...like when I'm in school and the teacher asks me how to read the kanji for _dog_ and I say _fire _'cause I really think it says that. Being wrong's not like lying, right?"

"No, Sayu. Being wrong isn't the same thing as lying. And yes, sometimes adults can be wrong about things just like children can." Soichiro tightened the hug a few notches. "But I promise you, I'm not wrong about this. You're not going to die just because you watched some video."

"But—"

"_No_. No buts. You're not going to die. And you're certainly not going to die if you talk about it." Soichiro smoothed his daughter's hair. "So tell me, when did you see this video? What time?"

"Um...well, it was kind of..." Sayu's voice tailed away and she squirmed and looked down, playing with the buttons on her father's shirt.

"Go on," Soichiro told her, correctly interpreting this as_ when I should have been in bed. _"I won't be angry."

"Five past eleven at night. It was when Light had Kaneda-_san_ to stay the night. They were talking and they woke me up and so I went downstairs."

Ah. Understanding was beginning to dawn on Soichiro.

"And they showed you this film then, did they?"

Sayu nodded. "Yes. And then Light said that he'd found this docu...doca...doc-thing about people who watched the tape."

"Documentary," Soichiro corrected automatically.

"Yes, and it was like a film and Light said _he'd _watched the tape too and that he was going to die at seventeen minutes past six the next morning unless I watched the tape he'd made. And I didn't _want_ Light to die! And you wouldn't want him to die either, would you?"

Soichiro was beginning to think he could quite cheerfully murder Light himself at this point, but he shook his head.

"No, of course not. You're a good girl, Sayu. So if this tape were real, you'd die at five past eleven tonight, is that right?"

Sayu nodded, swallowing.

"Which means—" Soichiro checked his watch— "that if it were real, then there would still be twenty minutes to go. So will you be alright here for ten of those minutes if I just go and ask your brother about all this? Maybe there's something he forgot to tell you."

"Can I come with you?"

"No. I think it would be better for me to talk to Light alone about this."

"Can I lock the door, then?" Sayu begged.

Soichiro studied her for a few minutes, then said, "Alright. But I want you to open it the second I tell you to. Agreed?"

"You _promise_ I'm not gonna die?"

"I promise, Sayu. It's alright." At least, it was for Sayu. It wouldn't be for Light when Soichiro got to him, but there was no need for Sayu to know about that. "You'll be fine. I'll be back very soon."

He rose to his feet and headed out the bedroom, taking care to shut the door behind him. Seconds later, he heard the sound of scrabbling on the other side and then the click of the lock.

Well, that was one of his children sorted, at least for the moment.

Now for the other one.


	2. Consequences

**Mystery Reviewer AKA Guest: **Thanks XD I'm glad you like it :-)

* * *

Soichiro stalked down the hall to his son's bedroom, his head spinning slightly. Part of it was relief at the thought that it was only a scary film at the root of Sayu's terror. Most of it was fury at his son playing a joke like this on Sayu. Soichiro believed that Light hadn't done it out of malice – at least, not _serious_ malice – but he should have known when to stop!

Slamming open the bedroom door, he strode over to Light's bed, stripped the covers off him, grabbed his son's arm and yanked him into a sitting position, then lifted him out of bed and set him on his feet. He didn't do it all that gently, and Light sat down hard, staring up at his father with huge eyes. Soichiro was a strict father, but he wasn't a rough one and he'd never manhandled either of his children in this way.

"Get me that film," Soichiro commanded.

"W-what film?"

"The film you showed your sister! The film you said was going to kill her!"

Understanding dawned in Light's eyes. "That's...Dad, that was just a joke! It's not my fault she has no sense of—"

"Light, I swore that I would never raise my hand to either of my children and right now I'm finding it very difficult to keep that promise. Do _not_ make it harder for me! Your sister is currently in my bedroom and terrified to the point of hysteria, now _bring me that film_!"

Light scrambled to his feet and headed for his school bag, rummaged around it in for a few minutes, then brought over a video.

Soichiro snatched the video from his son's trembling hands and broke it in two over his knee, much to Light's dismay.

"Dad, that's not mine! I borrowed it from Kaneda-_kun_!"

"Oh? And where did Kaneda get it?"

Light opened his mouth, then closed it again and shifted his weight.

"Answer me!"

Biting his lip, Light said in a very low voice, "We got it from his father's collection."

"And did you have his father's permission to take it?"

Light shook his head once, not looking at his father.

"I see. So the two of you stole it. I had no idea my son was a thief."

The shot hit home and Light stared up at his father. "I'm not a thief! I...we were going to put it back!"

"It doesn't matter whether you were going to put it back or not; you had no right to take it in the first place." Soichiro took a deep breath. "I will call Kaneda-_san_ in the morning and tell him what his son – and mine – did, and offer to replace the film that was broken."

"Well, make sure he knows it wasn't _me_ who broke it," Light mumbled.

"_What_ did you say?"

"Nothing!"

Soichiro eyed his son coldly, but didn't press the issue.

"If I do end up having to buy a replacement, I'll stop your allowance until you've paid back the cost."

"That's not fair! It was only a joke!"

Soichiro seized Light's wrist, pulling him to his feet. "Come with me!"

He half led, half marched his son into Sayu's room and pulled back one of the taped curtains with some difficulty, revealing the newspaper underneath.

Light stared at it, eyes huge, then turned to Soichiro.

"I didn't know she _believed _it."

"You hoped she would, Light, or you'd never have shown it to her in the first place."

"I...it was just a joke, Dad. I...yeah, I thought she'd take it seriously, but I thought she'd forget it in a few days. I never meant to scare her this much. I swear. I just thought she'd have nightmares for a while and then that would be it."

"You wanted to give your little sister nightmares?"

"No! I mean...I didn't do it because I _wanted_ her to have them, that was just a...a side effect. Like collateral damage."

Soichiro's hand started itching again and he folded his arms tightly, telling himself that he _would not_ slap his son, no matter how angry Light made him.

"Why did you do it then? What made you want to play such a joke on her in the first place?"

Light squirmed, glaring at the floor. "_I_ don't know."

"You do know, Light. You made the choice. You know why you made it."

"It's just...she's just so _irritating_! You never had a little sister, you don't know. She's always trotting around after me and my friends, wanting us to play with her and that stupid dumb platypus she carries around. What kind of little girl has a cuddly _platypus_ anyway?"

_The kind of little girl whose parents weren't able to get to the store until the very last minute_, Soichiro thought but didn't say. It had been a platypus or a grasshopper. Besides, Momo's arrival had had an unexpected bonus; Sayu had been so fascinated by this odd-looking animal that she'd instantly wanted to know more about them, and with the amount of research she'd done, her reading skills had shot up until she was one of the best in her class.

"How did you set up the phone call?"

"Kaneda-_kun_...we timed the video so we'd know how long it took. He said he was going for a glass of water, but instead he hid outside the lounge and waited until it started, then he called the landline when it was time. You were working late and Mom was asleep, so she wouldn't have heard it."

"How did Kaneda call the landline, Light?"

Studying his bare feet, Light mumbled, "He called it from your study."

"My study." Soichiro's voice was very cold. "I see. Would this be the same study that I specifically forbade you from entering under _any_ circumstances without my permission? And I advise you to think your answer over very carefully before you make it, Light. Flippancy would _not_ be a good move on your part."

"Yeah. That study. Dad, honest, it was just a joke."

"Not to your sister."

"Yeah, I get that!" Light glared at his father. "I'm _sorry_, okay? I'm sorry Sayu was stupid enough to believe—"

"Do _not_ push it," Soichiro growled. "I hope you're pleased with your actions, Light, because I can assure you that nobody else is, least of all me. You'll apologize to Sayu tomorrow and you'll also apologize to Kaneda-_san_. Understand?"

Light nodded, looking at the ground. "Should I write him a letter?"

"No; I'll take you round to his house on Saturday and you can do it in person."

The boy's head snapped up, alarm written in every line of his face. "B-but—"

"Something to say to me, Light?"

From his son's expression, there were several things Light would have liked to say to Soichiro if only he'd had the nerve, but he shook his head.

"Good. And Light?"

Light glanced up at him, biting his lip. "Yes Dad?"

"I don't want you socializing with Kaneda-_kun_ anymore." Now that he thought about it, a lot of Light's attitude had begun when he'd made friends with Kaneda. Soichiro was well aware of Iruka Kaneda's home life; it seemed to progress exactly how the boy wanted. He ate what he wanted, when he wanted, watched anything he wanted on TV and stayed up as late as he pleased. Compared to that, the Yagami household must seem like a prison.

Light stared at him, shock and anger on his face. "_What_? You can't do that!"

Soichiro met his son's look with an arctic one of his own.

"Would you like to say that to me again?"

His son bit his lip and looked down. "No. But just because Kaneda-_kun _doesn't worship his father, that doesn't mean he's bad! And just because we watched that movie, you're saying I can't be friends with him? It's not like being friends with Kaneda-_kun _is going to turn me into a...a mass murderer or something!"

"It's got nothing to do with that." As far as Soichiro was concerned, sneaking downstairs to watch a movie was nothing more than boyish mischief, easily overlooked. The same could be said for the trick Light played on Sayu, and despite his anger, Soichiro believed his son when he said he hadn't meant for it to go so wrong. "Kaneda-_kun_'s family relationships are his own business."

"Well, I don't see why you can't be more like _his_ father. I'm not a little kid anymore, Dad; I'm twelve! I'm almost a teenager!"

"Who just played a very immature, very cruel trick on his sister!" Soichiro couldn't remember the last time he'd been this angry with anyone, let alone his own son. While a small part of him was pleased by Light's refusal to be intimidated, his son's egocentricity worried him. "And on that subject, Light, you'll tell her what you did and apologize to her tomorrow."

Light nodded once, gaze trained on his feet again. "So, is that it?"

Something flared up in Soichiro at the question; the tone may have been properly respectful, but the words were not.

"No, Light, that is not _it_. You are _grounded_. For the rest of the month, you do not go anywhere except to school and cram school."

That one hit home; Light's head snapped up again, eyes wide. "But the Sumidagawa fireworks festival is next week!"

"Too bad. We'll find a sitter for you."

"You're going to go without me?"

Soichiro raised cold eyebrows. "Well, I see no reason why your mother and your sister should have to suffer because of your stupid prank."

"But that's all it was, Dad, a prank! I never set out to scare her, I mean, not _really_ scare her! You can't make me miss the Sumidagawa festival because of that! That's not fair!"

Soichiro quelled his son with a look. "Would you like to miss the Jingu Gaien festival as well?"

Light shut his mouth and shook his head, but there was a mutinous look in his eyes that his father didn't like the look of.

_If you don't tell Sachiko, he will_. Not only that, but Soichiro believed it wouldn't be a particularly fair telling. All Light would have to do would be to squeeze out a few tears and ease his mother into overturning his father's decision without letting her _know_ it was his father's decision, and he'd be in the perfect position to play one parent off against the other. He wished he could believe his son wouldn't stoop to such a low trick, but experience had taught him otherwise. Light was a good son (or as good as a hyperactive and hyper intelligent twelve year old could reasonably be expected to be) but he wouldn't think twice about manipulating his parents to serve his own ends.

"I'll also tell your mother when I pick her up on Monday," he added.

A cold light flashed through Light's eyes and Soichiro suppressed a sigh. There was no apprehension or guilt in his son's face, only irritation at having his plan thwarted.

_Be fair. You just woke him up and punished him; of course he's going to be angry and resentful right now._

"May I ask you something?"

"Go on."

Light looked up at his father, eyes hurt. "Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"

Soichiro raised his eyebrows. "_Do_ you think I'm making a big deal out of it?"

"Yeah. It was just a joke. I'd never hurt Sayu. I swear."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, at any rate. But you know how impressionable your sister is. If all you'd done was play a trick on her and you'd owned up to her the next day – or even the same night – I would have treated it as nothing more than childish mischief that got a little out of hand, but you went out of your way to set this up and let her go on thinking she was going to die."

"I didn't know what I was doing was that bad!"

Soichiro couldn't see his own expression, but it must have been particularly grim, because Light suddenly went pale and dropped his gaze again.

"Yes you did, Light, because you went out of your way to frighten Sayu into keeping her mouth shut about it by saying that if she told me you were behind it, then she'd die early."

"Well, obviously she didn't believe me, since you're here right now! And if we're talking about bad things, then Sayu shouldn't have been downstairs!"

"Neither should _you_. And you stole that film from Kaneda-_san_. I'm also punishing you for that."

Light licked his lips. "Can't I be grounded for _two_ months and still go to the festival? Or maybe be grounded starting _after_ the festival?"

"This is _not_ open to negotiation! You are _grounded_, end of discussion. Now go back to bed; you've got school in the morning and it's too late for you to be up."

His son opened his mouth, possibly to protest the unfairness of being blamed for Soichiro having woken him up.

"_Now_!"

Light shut his mouth again with a snap and turned and scampered back to his own room. There was just enough defiance left for him to slam the door hard, but Soichiro could overlook that, or at least was feeling too tired to deal with it right now. The boy had to have _some_ outlet for his emotions, after all. Soichiro just hoped that would be an end to it.

_Now to get Sayu back into bed, and then we can all go back to our lives._

He walked out of Sayu's room, picking his way carefully over all the books scattered on the floor from his daughter's makeshift barricade, and back to his own bedroom door. Raising his hand, he knocked on it.

"Sayu, it's me. Open up."

There was a hasty patter of footsteps and a click as the door unlocked and opened the barest crack, just enough for Sayu to peek through.

"I've spoken to your brother," Soichiro continued. "He's admitted that everything he told you about the ghost woman was only a joke, and he's very sorry he scared you."

The door opened wide and Sayu scrutinized her father carefully. "Really?"

"Yes. Come on." Soichiro lifted his daughter up and Sayu curled her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. "Let's get you into bed."

"Will you stay 'til I fall asleep?"

"Of course." Soichiro carried Sayu through into her own bedroom and managed to negotiate all the woolen trip wires to place his daughter down in her bed and pull the blankets over her, then knelt down by the side of the bed. "Do you know it's now half past eleven at night?"

Sayu stared at him. "Really?"

"See for yourself." Soichiro held out his wrist and let Sayu look at his watch. "So either the ghost woman is running _very_ late, or Light was telling the truth about it only being a joke."

Satisfied, his daughter snuggled back under the covers, yawning hugely.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Can I stay home from school? Just tomorrow? It's just...I'm really tired and I haven't sleeped much and I just wanna stay in bed. Please?"

It was the first time Sayu had ever asked this. In the normal scheme of things, Soichiro strongly disapproved of his children taking days off school, but given the night – hell, the _week_ – Sayu had just had, he didn't see how he could refuse. Chances were good she'd be too tired to concentrate anyway.

"Alright. But just for tomorrow; on Monday you're going back." That would give Sayu the weekend to recover. "And I expect you to get very high marks on your homework, since your staying home means you'll have had longer to do it than the rest of your classmates."

Another yawn.

"Will you stay home with me?" Sayu pleaded, her eyelids drooping.

Soichiro shook his head. "I wish I could, but there's a new member of the NPA coming into my department. I have to be there. I'll call Yamamoto-_san_ next door and ask her to come and keep an eye on you."

"Can't Matsubara-_san_ do whatever it is you have to do?" Sayu persisted.

"Matsubara-_san_ is in America, Sayu."

Sayu wriggled a little and sighed. "I wish _we_ could go to America!"

"Maybe one day," Soichiro said automatically. Ever since starting English lessons at school, Sayu had become fascinated with all things Western and kept trying to persuade her father to transfer to the FBI at regular intervals.

Soichiro wondered idly if it worked the other way around. Were there Western kids out there who were obsessed with all things Japanese? That thought made him smile.

"I'll try and come back early," he added. "And Sayu, before I get back, I expect this room to be cleared. That means I want the newspaper off the windows, the curtains untaped, the barriers put away and all the tripwires tidied up."

Sayu woke up enough to look a little worried. "Okay, but can you do your bathroom door, 'cause I'm not big enough to push that thing back all by myself."

"I'll do everything in my room, Sayu, if you do everything in yours. Fair?"

It wasn't, at least not if you looked at it in terms of division of labor, but Sayu nodded eagerly. Good. That was one major crisis dealt with, although Soichiro couldn't suppress a pang of guilt at his own failure to spot that there was anything wrong with Sayu. Maybe once Sachiko came home, things would get back to normal again...

* * *

**Sorry about the delay on this one. It was something I put aside to finish 'when I had time' around **_**Resurrection**_** and other things. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it :)**


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